Tag: Elizabeth Javor

elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized, youtube

In Your Corner : Lights! Cameras! Action! Taking your book to the movies

There once was a time when book marketing was mostly a print and maybe occasionally a radio affair. Then came television, and the publishing world absorbed the change. Later came the internet, and the publishing world was faced with a new dilemma: how to make use of the new platform and opportunities provided by the internet to build successful marketing campaigns? Always one step ahead of the curve, self-publishing authors began to look for websites like Youtube and Vimeo as possible platforms to connect with new readers and share their book trailers. And they have been wildly successful!

A book trailer is, in short, a kind of movie trailer for your book. Because videos tap into two fundamentally important human senses–both sight and hearing–at the same time, they have the power to both introduce new readers to your book and inspire them to purchase it.

A good book trailer presents images related to the book’s theme and content in an entertaining way, and is set to music that conjures up the appropriate atmosphere. A mystery novel might be set to a brooding tapestry of minor-key notes, while a romance novel might take advantage of a light-hearted upbeat tempo to clue readers into the nature of its story. Just as moviegoers might find themselves on the edge of their seats at the theater, your potential readers will wait with bated breath for the chance to pick up a copy of your book. It’s all about creating that “buzz” around your book’s release.

YouTube Screenshot

Crafting a book trailer that connects all of the dots in order to inspire this kind of reaction is, of course, quite a challenge. Video editing demands a certain professional creative skill set, complete with a deft hand at image placement, talent with text arrangement, and a nuanced way with transitioning from one frame to the next. And the timing must be precise: the entire trailer must take place over approximately sixty seconds in order to communicate all that it needs to and command a viewer’s attention.

The value of a well-made book trailer is, however, unquestionable. Short movies are the most portable of marketing tools, and are easily shared across all of the major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and elsewhere. They can be embedded into blog posts or the link distributed by email. And chances are, nine out of every ten video links you’re going to click in the coming year will lead to something on YouTube–a website which generates its own enormous slice of direct internet traffic and has proven a reliable source of many “viral” marketing campaigns already. But you never know what the next video application could be–even Amazon is getting into the video game these days.

As a self-publishing author, you’re already strategically placed to take advantage of video–but creating a book trailer? That might be outside of your comfort zone or even fully beyond your abilities. There are, of course, hybrid publishing companies that offer these services as part of a package, or you can commission someone to assist you. If you opt to pay for assistance, your music selection, image identification, and text integration will all be taken care of for you, and a draft of your book video trailer delivered to you. As I recommended last week, check the fine print: as author, you should retain the right to review the draft and suggest changes before final modifications are made. You should also own any and all rights to the final book video trailer outright and therefore use it throughout your marketing efforts–by uploading it to Yahoo! Video, MySpace, Daily Motion, Twitter, Metacafe, and other popular video hosting websites.

Book marketing is all about human connection, and your book video trailer is no different. A book trailer puts all of video’s greatest assets–its immediacy, its ability to convey a lot of information succinctly, and its visceral impact–at your command. Movies have the power to move people, and a book trailer has the power to capture your reader’s attention and then translate that attention into engagement on social media as well as drive sales. Your book video trailer is a backstage pass into who you are as a writer, and an all-access ticket to the theme park of your book’s greater universe!

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Amplifying Your Voice, OR, “What IS a Press Release Anyway?”

Are you ready to amplify your voice? A press release may just be your next step.

I know what you’re thinking: You’ve written your book, and now you’re on track to building a marketing campaign to do it justice. The hard part’s over … right? But it’s never easy getting word out to new readers about a brilliant new book they should be reading, especially for a self-publishing author with limited resources of time and energy to spend building connections and broadcasting the release. But while there are few events you might think worth publicizing with a press release, publishing your book should definitely one of them!

But … what is a press release?

Generally speaking, a press release is a written or visual bundle of information sent to members of the news media in order to announce something newsworthy. They are typically sent to the staff of newspapers, magazines, radio or television stations, and the administrators of various popular websites. If this sounds like a lot of work for one person to organize and distribute, that’s because … it is. But the benefits of a press release are extraordinary: the resulting national and even international exposure cultivates the interest of untold numbers of new readers who otherwise would never hear about your book.

There are a number of ways to go about writing and posting a press release. You can do what I’ve just said, and carry the entire burden yourself, or you can work with a self-publishing company that will partner with you to produce the press release for a small fee.  Every company is different in what it bundles together, but I do know that Outskirts Press (my employer) offers its authors the opportunity to have a professional writer draft a press release as a part of its Book Blast package.

Generally speaking–whichever company you opt to run with–once the first draft has been composed, you can elect to make moderate changes and corrections before the final draft is published. You should then receive a copy to use in your own marketing campaign, while the company makes use of its existing connections to distribute your professional custom press release through the News Wire–an electronic database of around 100,000 media contacts, newsrooms, industry analysts, and freelance writers who choose to receive daily emails regarding press releases that fit certain criteria. If the company you’ve chosen is on top of its game, it will also ensure that a number of popular websites and ezines, magazines like ForeWord Reviews and Publisher’s Weekly as well as newspapers like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today will receive notice of your book’s publication.

This press release will help drive sales by piquing the interest of reviewers, journalists, bloggers, and members of the media and encouraging them to pick up copies of your book. If you read the fine print of your publishing company’s press release package, you might find hidden gems to maximize each distribution, as OP does by optimizing your press release for search engine indexing, and working hard to ensure a speedy one-month start-to-finish turnaround on press releases. Always read the fine print!

Once you have your press release in hand, what next? I’d recommend a PR Publicist, if you have the free capital–it costs a bit, but the payoff is extraordinary, especially for self-publishing authors who don’t yet feel like they have a good handle on publicity and marketing campaigns. Ever and always in search of ways to make your work as an author easier and to help you build a successful marketing campaign worthy of your book, a PR Publicist will assist you distributing your press release to the personal email inboxes of credible book reviewers and editors in print, radio, and television, with connections to multiple trades, ezines, syndicates, and local, regional, and national wires. Unlike many authors, who don’t have the time to cultivate relationships with “influencers” in the publishing world, a PR Publicist’s entire job is to build a powerful distribution circuit that will help but your book on the map with those experts and resources who wield real influence over new readers.

A PR Publicist is not just confined to the digital world. In addition to email distribution, your publicist should follow up your press release with phone calls to key editors, beat writers, and particularly important reviewers to lift your press release to the top of the pile. This kind of detailed and personal contact increases the probability of both interest and coverage by these industry experts, and because these experts have agreed to receive press releases relevant to their interest, these qualify as something altogether more valuable than a “cold call.”

But here, too, I recommend taking a look at the fine print. A good PR Publicist, just like a well-written and widely-distributed press release, can go a long way to raising awareness about your book. But not all PR Publicists and not all press release packages are created equal. I work for Outskirts Press, so I’m definitely not unbiased in recommending who to choose, and in all things I want to place the power of choice back where it should be: in the hands of the author. Do your research, and balance your needs against what you can afford–what will prove most useful to you. You and your satisfaction are my priority, and I want to be here as a resource for you, no matter what course you choose in navigating the world of self-publishing!

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
Book Reviews, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : The Crimes & Good Times of Book Review World

So, what exactly is the big deal about book reviews?  Why are they so important to self-publishing authors like you and me?  Everyone who’s every published, self-published, or thought about writing a book seems to have an opinion, but I’m interested in facts.  And the facts are in!  As it turns out, readers turn to the book reviews on websites like Amazon and Goodreads for help in choosing between the dozens upon dozens upon millions of books they might purchase. And after looking at the hundreds of newly published books in the Biography or Romance genre just last month, it’s easy to understand why a five-star review on your Amazon book page might sway readers to purchase it over different book with only two or three stars.  Which leads me to another vital question: how do you get those reviews?

One option is to ask for them–and to ask for them direct from the source. There are all kinds of excellent ways to make use of your existing social connections–on or offline–and you should definitely use them to contact potential reviewers on Facebook, Twitter, and your other social media platforms.  (Authors hang out on Snapchat and Tumblr too, you know!)  

You’ve probably heard that some websites even offer free reviews in return for copies of your book, but just how good are they at reaching new readers?  The answer in most cases happens to be not very.  Readers can quickly and easily get a glimpse of what their friends and the general public thinks about a certain book by taking a look on Amazon and Goodreads, both of which combine the sum total of posted reviews together into one single one-to-five-star average, and pick out particularly popular reviews to highlight.  Accessing these snapshots of a book’s success or struggle is as simple as a few basic keystrokes on Google.

Many readers, however, are looking for something more reputable and more thorough than a blindly-given and blindly-received two-sentence review on a website geared entirely towards pushing product.  These readers are looking for reputability, reliability, and the kind of insightful observations that only the very best reviewers offer.  And as a self-publishing author or someone who works with indie authors–I’m talking to myself every bit as much as I’m talking to you at this point–nothing quite equals an impartial book review from a credible source.  Getting your hands on these vitally important reviews can also pose a significant challenge for a self-publishing author who may lack the resources to sift these credible sources from common shysters, and the confidence to approach the most highly-acclaimed reviewers.

There are, of course, options: companies like my employer, Outskirts Press, offer packages that can quite literally save your bacon when it comes to gathering in the creme de la creme of book reviews.  Our package is called the  “Book Blast,” and it should save the aspiring author untold time, effort, and potential disappointment in pursuing the right kind of reviews.  The effective kind of reviews.  But don’t get me wrong!  I love Outskirts and its author-centered company ethic, but I’m not just here to hawk a sales promotion on unsuspecting readers.  You have to find the path that best suits your needs, help or no help, cost or no cost–but the fact remains you’ll need reviews, a lot of reviews and the best kind of reviews–in order to boost your book’s visibility and drive your sales.  Do your research, and dig deep to find those credible, highly-rated reviewers who have a guaranteed interest in reviewing self-published titles–and sit back to watch as your confidence blossom as your book finds its final audience.

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
ebooks, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Debunking the Myth of Multiedition Self-Sabotage

It’s not a new idea–that adding a new edition of your book can boost your overall book sales.  But while many self-publishing authors choose to begin with an ebook edition for a variety of reasons (it’s cheaper to produce, is findable using a keyword search, and is easy to distribute and download) and are only too happy to expand into print editions when their ebooks take off … well, suffice it to say the reverse is not quite as common.  Why?

I have a one-word answer for you: stigma.  Many authors who choose to begin their self-publishing experience by going straight to print and eschewing all other options do so because they themselves have a personal preference for the printed book.  Which is lovely.  I too adore the weight of a physical copy in my hand, the almost unidentifiable smell combining paper and industrial toner!  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with preference.  However–and you knew there would be a however in here somewhere!–when authors enforce their own preferences on their readers, there’s a grave danger that they will also enforce a stigma.

And let’s face it, the stigma against ebooks is doing just fine without any help.  A seachange may be starting, but the fact remains that major news outlets like The Guardian and Publisher’s Weekly and the Wall Street Journal have all at one time or another bemoaned the “death of print” instead of lauding the ingenuity of authors who found new ways to reach their readers. And authors themselves have contributed to the stigma–Stephen King, Maurice Sendak, Sherman Alexie, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Ray Bradbury have all spoken out at one time or another against ebooks.

But here are the facts:

Releasing an ebook edition of your novel does not lead inevitably to the “death of literature.”  In fact, it helps to complement your print editions.  You as an author will be able to reach a wider audience by offering both print and ebook editions–and more importantly, your willingness to do so demonstrates a profound respect for your readers and their various needs for accessibility.

An ebook edition is a smart, affordable, effective, efficient, and respectful addition to your work.  Just as an audiobook version of your book (more on that in the future!) can help render your work accessible to a hearing-impaired reader, an ebook renders your work accessible to the visually-impaired reader, the mobile reader, the traveler, and the international reader who maybe doesn’t have access to Amazon shipping or a physical bookstore.  And maybe, just maybe, your book can reach a person who would otherwise feel alone in this world, just as I am here each week to remind you that:

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Save the Earth (and maybe even the Whales) with POD!

Do you ever wonder what you can do as an author to save the world?  Are you the sort to take recycling and environmentally-conscious living seriously?  As we get closer to Earth Day 2016 (April 22nd), these conversations rise to the surface and spark all kinds of innovative thinking.  And this year, I’d like to toss one more idea into the ring–one more way you, an author, can do your bit to better protect this beautiful planet of ours:

Convert to Print on Demand (POD) publishing

Remember 50 Shades of Grey?  (Of course you do.  Who could forget?)  In the most interesting anecdote I’ve read all week, the Swansea Oxfam used bookstore received so many donated copies of 50 Shades that they–quite literally!–built a FORT out of them.  Think I’m kidding?  They posted a picture to their Twitter feed:

50shades

The tweet has gone viral, generating a series of articles on the rise and fall of E.L. James’ once-rabidly-popular and now-slightly-less-popular steamy Twilight fanfiction-inspired novel.  More importantly, in my mind, is the fact that this media frenzy has prompted people to take a second glance at how publishing is done–in particular, how the traditional publishing model blankets the world in a flood of books that nobody buys, or that people buy and then dispose of almost immediately.

The second issue–the disposability of a book–is more or less a consequence of its content.  But the first issue–the excessive number of printed books that never find homes–is one that you can avoid simply by choosing the self-publishing model, and choosing to print your books on demand.  What is Print on Demand (POD)?  The clue is in the title: POD is any service that allows authors to print however many copies of their book that they want, as they gauge interest and on the go.  This saves everyone from repeating the dreaded Swansea book fort scenario, and helps mitigate a sad reality in the West: unsold books headed straight to landfill.  I was speaking to a local librarian the other day, and it turns out that despite their best efforts to redistribute all donated books to area Little Free Libraries, book nooks in local businesses, and sales through Amazon … they still sometimes have to send new books straight to the dump, because nobody wants them.  These are usually titles of which so many copies were printed, everyone has already read them, and all the people who want to own copies already have one at home.

So we return to the simple fact: POD is far more earth-friendly than a massive print run.

Instead of being locked into a massive initial print run that they then must recoup the cost of through sales, indie and self-publishing authors can print a smaller number of copies, recoup the cost faster, and go back for more whenever they like or need to.  POD services are included in the cost of many publishing packages, including several of those offered by my own employer, Outskirts Press.  At Outskirts and other hybrid publishing firms, the diversity of packages offered creates additional flexibility–authors only pay for what they need, and not for excesses that underscore a traditional publishing company’s bottom line.  And at least with Outskirts, books are printed mainly on recycled paper (another earth-friendly boon!) and we offer ebook options that require no paper or ink at all!  It’s well worth your time to explore all of the options available to you, and to tailor your publishing experience to suit your resources.

 

I didn’t use the word “convert” earlier lightly.  It has somewhat religious undertones (or overtones, depending on who you ask), and I find it fitting because nature at its best often inspires a kind of spiritual or religious experience.  I remember standing on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon overlooking the Colorado River hundreds of feet below–that was pretty miraculous!  And I remember how I felt walking among the ancient Redwoods in Northern California–a different kind of grandeur.  Greener, more peaceful.  These moments are among the many gifts that the world gives us, an earth that quite literally keeps us alive and breathing.  I think limiting our excesses, whether in respect to printing books or supporting sustainable water usage and so forth, is an important step to take–and in this case, it’s also a way to protect your pocketbook from a different kind of excess.  It’s rare that what’s good for making a profit and what’s good for the environment line up, but Print on Demand (POD) publishing is one of those rare cases!

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.